Maternal vitamin D status and infant outcomes in rural Vietnam: a prospective cohort study.

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, published as a randomized controlled trial.

Vitamin D deficiency affects 1 billion people globally.

It has an important role in bone homeostasis, brain development and modulation of the immune system and yet the impact of antenatal vitamin D deficiency on infant outcomes is poorly understood.

The researchers assessed the association of 25- hydroxyvitamin D levels (25-OHD) in late pregnancy and early infant growth and developmental outcomes in rural Vietnam.

Who Took Part

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults, both men and women.

A prospective cohort study of 960 women who had previously participated in a double-blind cluster randomized controlled trial of antenatal micronutrient supplementation in rural Vietnam was undertaken.

Main outcome measures were cognitive, motor, socio-emotional and language scores using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, 3rd edition, and infant length-for-age z scores at 6 months of age.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized and double-blind study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

Neither the participants nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

Maternal 25-OHD concentration was measured at 32 weeks gestation, and infants were followed until 6 months of age.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are 25-Hydroxyvitamin D 2, Child Development, Dietary Supplements, Rural Population, Vietnam, Vitamin D and Vitamin D Deficiency.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized and double-blind study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

Results are reported in around 5 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2014 (PloS one), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, all human trials.